EVA's only look easy

November 18, 6:14 PMSpace Exploration ExaminerMary Beth Ellis

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Four EVA's are planned for STS-126, the first of which is underway right now.  (EVA = Extra-Vehicular Activity, because to call these events a "spacewalk"... well, it makes it sound like not a whole lot of work goes on.  And believe me, these things are work.)  Tune in on NASA TV or via NASA's website for some stunning views and second-to-none live feeds of the crews performing some pretty amazing feats.

EVA's are incredibly intricate, requiring a great deal of preparation and training.  Most  pre-EVA work for astronauts goes on in an enormous pool in Houston, as the neutral buoyancy of water provides a good preparation for the efficient movements required in microgravity.

That realization didn't come easily.  In the 1960's, Gemini astronauts who undertook EVA's often returned to the capsule out of breath-- these incredibly in-shape young men exhausted by fighting their own spacesuits.  Working in space without the protective skin of the spacecraft was entirely new, something to be learned on the job. 

So don't let those floating tethers and lovely images of Earth fool you-- it's a long day on the job when an EVA is on the docket.